Soccer, Sports

De Bona’s OT stunner for men’s soccer knocks off Dartmouth

Freshman midfielder Jerry Ozor assisted on De Bona's game-winner. PHOTO BY JUSTIN HAWK/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Freshman midfielder Jerry Ozor assisted on De Bona’s game-winner. PHOTO BY JUSTIN HAWK/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Ivy League opponents have posed quite a challenge for the Boston University men’s soccer team so far in 2016, and Tuesday night against Dartmouth College at Nickerson Field was no exception. The Terriers (5-5-2, 1-2-2 Patriot League) came away on top, though, securing a 1-0 victory thanks to senior forward Felix De Bona.

The game was a back-and-forth affair mainly fueled by turnovers from both teams, but BU was able to crack the Big Green’s (4-3-5) five-game unbeaten streak with the win.

Although Dartmouth got out to a fast start, taking three corner kicks within the first 10 minutes, BU’s aggressiveness caught up with the Big Green for the remainder of the first half.

Through the first 45 minutes, Dartmouth barely edged BU in shots (7-6) and corner kicks (5-3), and both sides finished with four shots on goal. Though each team created a similar number of opportunities, neither was able to break through.

However, due to a number of injuries, BU head coach Neil Roberts expected some of the offensive struggles.

“We had a lot of new guys out there,” Roberts said. “We probably had five of our regular starters out. So we knew it was going to be a bit choppy in the beginning. Some of these guys haven’t played much.”

One of these fresh faces was first-year freshman midfielder Satchel Cortet, who got his collegiate start on Tuesday night. The Pennington, New Jersey native played an exceptional first half.

Roberts also knew that it would take some time for these players to adjust against a formidable Big Green offense.

“Dartmouth is an excellent team.” Roberts said. “We knew it would take a little bit of time to get our feet under us, and we did that. I think that midway through the first half, I thought we were okay, going toe-to-toe with them.”

The second half ended up being just as uneventful as the first, with BU putting up four shots to Dartmouth’s three.

Less than two minutes into the overtime period, De Bona found open space off a touch around a defender, and ripped one into the top right corner past Dartmouth goalkeeper James Hickok to stun the Big Green.

“I just saw the ball land, and I took a touch to my right,” De Bona said. “I think the defender on my left just thought I was going to pass it out wide and I just took a touch inside, and I saw an opening and just said, ‘Good luck.’”

De Bona’s game-winner makes it five total goals in the last three games for BU. The Terriers have four conference games left in their season, the first two of which are on the road.

A three-game unbeaten streak, coupled with a thrilling overtime victory, create solid momentum for the team heading into the season’s stretch run.

“It’s great momentum because that’s exactly what we needed,” De Bona said. “We were going through a bit of a tough patch here in the middle of the season, but I think we just turned it around. We have a great group and everybody’s buying into the system and helping each other out.

“I think the past three games show that we’re here to compete. We want to win the remaining games, and continue to win for the Patriot League title.”

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3 Comments

  1. Very Proud of our son, Grant Dowling on publishing his first article for the Daily Free Press!
    Love and miss you, Dad, Mom, Miles and Jules.

  2. Very impressive, great reading. Great Job!

  3. Thanks for sharing, Grant! Looking forward to reading your next article.